The present invention relates generally to medical technology and in particular aspects to devices and methods for introducing implants into patient tissue for augmentation and other purposes.
As further background, plastic surgery, including soft tissue augmentation, is a viable option for people who want to change their physical appearance. An increasingly popular form of plastic surgery is lip augmentation, a procedure to increase the fullness of the lips. Lips are augmented using a variety of techniques and materials. While some procedures offer a temporary fix, others provide a more permanent solution. Temporary lip augmentation often involves injecting a filler material into a lip, such as fat, collagen, hyaluronic acid, and particulated dermis or fascia.
Permanent lip augmentation eliminates or reduces some of the problems associated with temporary lip augmentation. One permanent lip augmentation technique involves injecting liquid silicone into the lip. However, liquid silicone is inherently difficult to remove from the lips should a problem arise or the patient desire removal. Further, liquid silicone injections carry a relatively high incidence of inflammation, migration, and even skin ulceration, which can occur many years later. Currently, liquid silicone is not FDA-approved for soft tissue augmentation, although it is still used outside the United States.
Other permanent lip augmentation techniques involve implanting various forms of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) into the lip, such as Gore-Tex™ strips or Softform™ and Ultrasoft™ tubes. PTFE is porous to allow tissue ingrowth into the material, which in turn, prevents migration.
Apart from procedures involving fillers or implants, other surgical procedures, such as lip rolls, lip lifts, and micro pigmentation, and nonsurgical techniques, such as using lip pumps, have been used to try to enhance the lips.
In addition to augmenting lips, a variety of other procedures for altering the appearance of patient physical features are commonly undertaken, particularly in the facial area. These include, as illustrative examples, procedures to diminish or otherwise improve the appearance of wrinkles and/or nasal labial folds on the face.
There remain needs for improved and/or alternative devices for introducing implants into patient tissue, as well as methods for manufacturing and using the same. The present invention is addressed to those needs.